The majority of the pop punk community is already familiar with (or at least should be) The Story So Far, but now there is another up-and-coming pop punk band from Walnut Creek, California called Coastwar. Coastwar, formerly Stateside, released their EP entitled Good Head Starts, Bitter Ends for free on Bandcamp on May 22nd. This was around the time when they signed to Anchor Eighty Four Records as well.Instrumentally, Coastwar sounds like a combination of The Story So Far and Heart To Heart, while the vocals are similar to Stickup Kid, and at times, Seahaven. If you’re a fan of any of these bands, hopefully I’ve caught your attention because you will definitely like Coastwar if you give them 25 minutes of your time.
My favourite part of Good Head Starts, Bitter Ends is the second and third tracks. “Like We Always Did” is pretty upbeat and has some awesome guitar riffs and features an extremely catchy chorus in which the vocalist belts out “And we strain our eyes to see anything through this coastal fog and rain”. “Smokestack” is similar in that it has an incredible chorus, but the majority of the song is much slower-paced. The tempo change near the middle of the track is fantastic and the lyric that follows, “Here we are, at bitter ends/Close your eyes, darling, and get some rest/Good head starts, they never got us too far” is great too.
The only flaw that I noticed is that some tracks drag on or take a little bit too long to get going (“Sleep And Reason” and “Pacifica” come to mind). On the bright side, before they start to drag on or when they do finally pick up, the aforementioned tracks are incredible, like the rest of the EP. The chorus in “Pacifica” is actually one of my favourite moments on Good Head Starts, Bitter Ends.
Coastwar very recently changed their name and created a new Facebook page, so give them a like and all the support that you can give because they deserve it! Also, be on the lookout for the band’s upcoming 7″ that they plan to release in early 2013. 
Links: Facebook – Bandcamp
